Out of the Dark
by xSummersx
Summary: At last Ariel has been given her wish, but the reality has shaken her dreams while Eric is still haunted by the vioce. Can these two bring each other out of the darkness before it's too late? ARIEL/ERIC
1. Chapter 1

**This story is being written by a request from disneyqueen. She gave me the general idea, summary, and title so please pass your comments and thanks along to her as well! Or I will eat you, haha no I won't. FINALLY getting this out. She is a very patient person! Hope you all enjoy this story : ) Updates will be accordingly. I am working on two stories at a time.**

She was sure that there was never anything she would face, in her world, in this new world she was risking it all to see, that would be as painful and horrifying as watching her own tail split in two. But now, after all said and done, and having just broke the surface, she was slowly finding it not to be so. With the help of Sebastian and Flounder, she didn't drown underwater. What a completely alien feeling; water killing her.

"Ari-el!" Sebastian managed through heavy breaths. "You gotta kick your feet more!"

And she did. If she had a voice she was sure she would be screaming in protest. Her new body was refusing to move, all it wanted was to be still and rest. Her two small friends were trying to find her anything to cling on to other than them but the horizon was just as empty as the hope itself. More than a few times a wave would come up and take them under.

It was getting darker as the sun prepared to turn in. Her friends knew that if they didn't find anything when they could at least see their surroundings, then they probably won't be finding anything period. It was when the stars started to come to life that Flounder had spotted a silhouette in the endless distance, so with that being the only hope for them, they ventured in it's direction.

If they weren't so exhausted and close to their breaking point, they would have noticed the object was also making progress towards them, growing in size with each passing second. And it seemed to be bringing various strange noises with it. At one point, Ariel's legs did give out and the three of them went under the waves.

"Come on, Ariel!" Flounder's usually innocent voice was tinged with fear. "You gotta keep going!"

Ariel then began to flail her arms, releasing and shoving away her friends, the only things keeping her stable and afloat. She was kicking so hard it was partly working to keep her where she was, but not push her up for air.

It was then that something brushed up against her skin. On instinct she swatted at the foreign object and then her hand caught. She should have attempted to release her hand but the object was pulling her up. And, actually, her whole body was now being touched by it. She soon broke the surface to horribly realize her apparent rescuer was also a potential death trap.

She was in a net being captured by pirates. She was. Only her. Sebastian and Flounder were pushed too far out of the way to be with her. They never thought they would ever be sad not to be. So they slowly watched their friend be swept up by pirates who were, by now, completely astonished (and soon to be disgustingly happy) that they were pulling up a girl.

The instant she hit the deck, after the net was overhauled away, every eye was shocked further, and evil smiles started to creep out, as they saw the almost naked beauty they had pulled from the water.

"Well looky here," one of them hissed and strode up to her. "We caught my definition of a keeper!"

Ariel's vision was spiraling in and out as she took in the first humans to ever see her. She wanted to scream in shock when the pirate in front of her grabbed her by her hair and yanked her up to meet his eyes.

"Where be your pants, Missy?" he smiled, revealing missing and horribly stained teeth.

_"What…who..?"_

"I think she's overdressed!" one shouted from the crowd.

Various cheers and whistles followed. He threw her to the ground and pinned her arms above her by her wrists.

_'What is happening!'_

She started to kick her legs, but he was now straddling her, his knees on either side, locking her down completely.

"Now about those shells," the words left him in a low growl.

His hand only managed to touch the fabric before a change in the wind caused all to look to the sky, where the stars were now hidden under thick black clouds.

"Prepare the sails! All hands on deck!"

A danger to them, a lifesaver to Ariel. The man was immediately gone from above her and now all of them were running all over the deck in a panic. There came a sudden crash before Ariel felt herself thrown, where she painfully hit the side of the deck, all the impact going to her right shoulder. Her eyes blurred in and out of focus, but she continued to get thrown around. The humans now seemed to care less about her, and some didn't bother going out of their way to get around her. She was kicked, trampled on, and pushed aside each time she even so much as attempted to stand.

In one hell, out the other. With one last crash, she was completely thrown overboard. She hit the waves with a painful splash, almost like landing on the ship. Her immediate desire to breath was met with a painful burning in her nose and throat, and she could only cough up bubbles. The current was taking her away from the ship at speeds faster than she could comprehend.

If she was able to think, she wondered which of these situations she would rather be in. This was nothing like her sweet dreams, her reveries of the world above. Had her father been right all along? As she continued to drift aimlessly through the currents, she started to lose consciousness, as the place she called home was about to lay her to rest.

**Hope you like it. At this point, reviews are very crucial to let me know what is working. So please leave a review! Don't just add it to favorites and leave it at that…I get notifications from that…I know who you are…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for waiting! Hope you like it. God Bless! : )**

The sand was smoothed out, losing its hard grainy exterior as the waves lapped gently back and forth over it, but she did not feel it. The water was warm from the mid-summer season, but she wouldn't know. Washed up like a random shell she lay lifeless on the shoreline, the only thing moving over her were the waves and the salty sea breeze.

Long separated, Flounder and Sebastian were nowhere in sight. The storms ravaging waves made quick work of severing their ties. While it was the storm that threatened to kill her, it was also the very thing that saved her. The pirate ship was floating not too far off the shores that night and her already light and small body was no hard task for the waves washing towards land to carry her there before she was to drown.

The sun beat down upon her virgin skin, a pain she did not know, but soon would later when the sunburn would take over. She was deposited on her stomach, her knees down being the only thing touched by water now. Her face was tilted, right cheek to the sand, hair thrown all about her head like the mane of a lion.

The scruffy white dog smelled her out long ago. And his master was doing all he could to merely keep from falling behind him, there was no way to catch him when he ran that fast. He sharply turned the corner, out of sight again. But when Eric turned this final corner, his eyes didn't find his dog.

After a mental debate of whether or not he really did see a woman washed up on his shoreline, he sped over and all but slid onto his knees beside her. The blush arose on his cheeks almost immediately upon seeing she was practically naked. She had random bruises and a few cuts covering her otherwise flawless skin. He could only imagine what she had gone through. And now her whole back was starting to turn red from the sun, he could only imagine how long she had been there.

"Hey…hey!" he started to gently shake the girl.

His eyes met her dormant face. She was a beautiful girl, looking a little younger than him, and that hair…he didn't know it was possible to have a shade that amazing. But his admiration fell short when he was reminded by thought and vision she was still naked. After a few more attempts to wake her, and he had checked that she was still alive, he decided he needed to get her out of the open and checked by the palace doctor. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around her lower half before picking her up bridal style.

Now that she was completely turned and in his arms, he realized how small and light she actually was. He was lifting hardly anything! Her waist was abnormally small, but it suited her well. He mused that on anyone else they would be checked for malnutrition.

He was too busy admiring and inquiring about the mystery girl he didn't think of how compromising he looked upon entering the palace. One he had no shirt on, two he was carrying some random girl, and three she was naked, except for the shirt around her lower half, which was his.

She was taken quickly by Carlotta, and hurried up to a guest bedroom where the palace doctor went to check in on her.

"I want to ask…and I don't."

"You shouldn't assume things, Grim."

"With you I find myself right most of the time."

The look Eric flashed him got him to laugh.

"But I know you better. So why don't you tell me what is going on," he said as he lit his pipe.

"I don't know," he shrugged and looked out the large dining room window, which was practically the wall. "Just found her like that."

"Odd."

"She looked like she had really been through something. She had bruises on her body and a few cuts. She's been lying there a while too. Her whole back is sunburned pretty bad."

"Well it's a good thing you stumbled upon the poor girl," his advisor let out a puff.

"Good thing Max smelled her. I never would have been over to that part of the beach."

They were alerted to Carlotta when she came bustling down the stairs, her pace kicked on overdrive as she nearly plowed the men over in passing.

"My dear, Carlotta," Grim regained his balance. "What has you so worked up?"

"Oh…that poor girl," she turned back to them, actually stopping. "She's a mess. Thank the heavens you found her!" she looked at Eric.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"Doctor says she's fine. Just needs rest. He's treating her cuts and bruises. Poor thing's been through something awful!"

"Did she wake up?"

"Not yet."

And with that she hurried off, obvious she had stayed too long to entertain them for the moment. In a few moments she was rushing back up the stairs with fresh towels and a bowl of water.

"Gives her something to do," Grimsby sighed, reading Eric's amused expression.

"True."

They shared a moment of silence.

"I wonder where she came from," the elderly man took another puff.

"Me too. I guess we'll just have to wait and ask her."

**Shweet. Thank you everyone for the many great reviews! I'm glad it is to your liking. A few of you are very curious about where this is headed. Me too! I am literally writing this as I go. It's one of the reasons I enjoy requested stories, I have come to find. As always, R&R. I will be leaving tomorrow for another golf tournament and come back Monday night so I was happy to update beforehand. Thanks guys!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So GLAD to finally get this out. Now I have a few chapters ahead of me that I've been really looking forward to writing. Summer is in two weeks and hopefully that means quicker chapters. Thanks for patience. It's all we can ask for. God bless!**

It all came in a rush. The moment her eyes opened she was blinded by the sun blaring through the open balcony doors. Squinting, she brought her hands up to her eyes. And upon finally moving, the pain seared through her. Her whole body ached. Her arms, her back especially and her…legs?

She shot up, and immediately her body screamed at her. Hunching over in a moment she winced, eyes finally opened all the way. She had no idea where she was either. The combination of everything was now starting to make her head hurt too.

She kicked off the covers and just stared at them. They were so fascinating. In a moment of exploration she started to move the toes. Despite the pain, she giggled a little.

Ariel jumped, and would have screamed, when the door to her room suddenly opened to reveal Carlotta. Their eyes locked and the staring contest began, but also ended just as quickly. The plump housekeeper suddenly dropped the pile of fresh bedding on the ground and was beside her in seconds.

"Oh, heavens dear! You're finally up!"

Ariel jumped again when she took her hands in her own before reaching up to feel her forehead. All her actions were so quick Ariel was getting dizzy just following her. Carlotta had no idea she was the first human this girl had ever interacted with.

Ariel had no voice, but she would have been speechless even if she did. Her breathing had becoming hitched as the woman continued to say things to her. Though her ears had long-since shut off. She merely stared, like a child that didn't know any better. And without realizing her actions, her hand moved up and touched Carlotta's cheek in amazed curiosity.

The action silenced the woman right away, and she stared back into the girl's eyes, which were as wide as saucers. By having herself stopped, finally, Carlotta was able to really get a look at the girl. Sure, she had been in the room and taken her temperature many times throughout…but wow. This girl was beautiful…breathtaking really. Now awake, the color was back to her face, and her electric blue eyes really lit up her features. And that hair…like her face was framed by fire.

"…dear…umm," Carlotta struggled to speak a moment. "Is something wrong?"

Ariel blinked and quickly withdrew her hand, as if she had touched something hot. Her mouth moved…and then she froze.

"What's the matter?" Carlotta said in concern for her newest behavior.

She rose a shaky hand to her throat and looked down. Her eyes, that were just lit up with life, seemed suddenly drained of all traces of it. Her rose hand slowly turned to a fist, but one that wasn't in anger but of understanding. Ariel kept sending her for a loop when she noticed a single tear roll down her cheek.

"What's wrong?"

Carlotta now had her hand to Ariel's cheek. She flinched at first, the contact alien, but then seemed to accept it and looked at her with her blue sad eyes. The girl patted her throat and shook her head, closing her eyes and looking down.

"You…can't speak?"

How Carlotta managed to extract that from the girl's actions, she did not know. But she was amazed to receive a nod in response.

"…h…how…oh…my…" she stumbled over her words.

That was amazing to her…and also amazingly sad! Her heart poured out more for this beautiful young girl. It seemed like so many awful things had happened to her…and she dared not think about the possibility of what else.

"Well enough moping about!" she smiled, beside herself, trying to get the atmosphere lively again. "We need to get you cleaned up and ready for dinner!"

Ariel watched her move about again with curious eyes. Her eyes shifted from her for a moment to the room she was in. She knew the name of no object, how she had gotten there, who this lady was, where she was…

"I'll be right back after I start your bath. Wait just a moment!"

She left, which left the girl to her thoughts, which in turn started to form the tale of why she was even in this predicament in the first place.

_"You have one week," Ursula smiled too sweetly to her._

_Ariel replayed the sentence over in her mind, "And…if I don't get him to kiss me?"_

_The sea witch gave a small laugh in response._

_ "Then you belong to me!" she bellowed._

_Ariel flinched, slightly moving away from her. Was it worth it? Surely, he would remember her instantly. Of course he would! She saved him…sang to him! The way he looked at her when he finally came too…_

_ Ariel relived the moment in her mind, causing a smile to play on her features and butterflies to come alive within her._

_ "Oh…and of course we have yet to discuss the subject of payment!"_

_Her sharp voice brought Ariel back._

_ "You can't just get something for nothing you know!"_

_ "But I don't have any—"_

_Ursula slapped a tentacle over her mouth._

_ "I'm not asking much…a token, really a trifle. You'll never miss it."_

_She removed her tentacle with a smile._

_ "What I want from you is…your voice."_

_The mermaid's eyes widened and she put a hand to her throat. _

_ "My voice?"_

_ "You got it Sweetcakes. No more talking, singing, zip!"_

_ "But I need my voice!" she shouted._

_She did! He would surely recognize it was her when she sang. She wasn't sure he had actually saw her enough to know it was her if he saw her again._

_ "A deal's a deal. Of course you could always go and see if Daddy will be willing to turn you human instead?"_

_The sentence struck a cord from within her and she felt her heart swell with fear and memories of her recently destroyed grotto…and relationship with her father. Ursula waved her hand and a golden rapid of parchment appeared before her, along with a fishbone pen. _

_ "A deal's a deal," she repeated in a low voice._

She couldn't believe she actually signed it really. She was risking no future, and being the sea witches little toy, a pawn. Throwing the terrible memories aside she moved herself to the foot of the bed and placed her new feet on the ground ever so slowly. In a quick movement she got up from the bed only to have her legs give out beneath her. She hit the ground with a horrible thud, her hip taking the majority of the fall. The impact traveled through her already beaten body, reminding her of its presence. She winced again, and another tear fell.

"Heavens child!"

Carlotta came from nowhere, and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, pulling her to a sitting position.

"Take it easy. From what I can tell you've really been through something. Here."

It took little to no strength to pull Ariel to her feet and help her to the bathroom. Carlotta had noticed she was thin, but she didn't expect her to be this light.

Getting her into the tub of water was amusing. She immediately brightened upon seeing the water in the large bath. She actually all but jumped in, her face brightening upon settling in the water. Carlotta noted it was the first time she didn't look out of place; it was funny to her. She was just thankful the girl was smiling.

"I've got a few dresses lined up for you to pick for dinner. I'll go tell Prince Eric you're awake!"

She turned, only to hear a quick splash of water and feel a sharp tug on her apron. Turning, the girl was holding her clothe tightly, her blue eyes large and questioning as they peered up at her.

"What's wrong?"

Ariel was sure she had heard that name correctly…but she was not sure how to ask her to repeat it. So she merely stood there staring at her before tugging on her clothe a few times then pointing and gesturing all about her but keeping eye contact with the maid.

"I don't understand?" she turned to her and knelt beside the tub, Ariel finally releasing her apron.

She could still mouth things, she remembered, and mouthed 'Eric' over and over.

"…Eric…"

She nodded vehemently.

"…do you know him?"

Ariel nodded and Carlotta laughed.

"What a silly question. Of course you would know him!"

The former-mermaid rose a brow of confusion to the statement and her reaction.

"Like I said I'll be right back and then we can get you dressed!"

Leaving her question unanswered, she left the room. Ariel slowly slinked back into the tub, the feeling of water more than welcomed all over her. Prince Eric…she was going to tell him she was awake…what did that mean? Did he know it was her? How did he know she was there? Which got her once again thinking of where she was.

Seeing how she was unable to ask questions, she had to keep all these questions to herself as Carlotta came back, dried her off and clothed her in a beautiful baby pink dinner gown. She combed out her long fiery locks and had more than enough fun helping her adjust to walking. So of course she had a blast when she put the girl in small heels. She was finally led out of her room into the hallway, where she was able to take in more of the strange place she was.

She, with tremendous effort from the motherly housekeeper, walked down the large flight of stairs into the massive ballroom. Ariel thought it was odd to hear the sound of her shoes echo off the marble floors. She was led up to two giant blue doors. Carlotta pushed them open and Ariel's eyes peered in to see a large dining table.

Sitting on one of the chairs at the far end was Grimsby. He was smoking his pipe, as usual and saying something. Ariel looked at the new human with heightened curiosity. Carlotta had to drag her a moment to get her to start walking, and she took the sudden pause that the girl was a bit shy.

"It's okay, Dear," she smiled. "Don't be shy."

The sudden voice stopped Grimsby and he turned to see them coming in.

"You're awake."

The voice did not come from the human in front of her. Rather, it came from behind. Carlotta and Ariel both turned. Ariel's breath hitched, her eyes went wide, and her heart skipped a beat.

**Hope it's good! Please review : )**


	4. Chapter 4

**WRITERS BLOCKKKKK….yuck.**

Before her unbelieving eyes he stood. The woman that took care of her was indeed referring to the exact person she had been hoping she was. Dressed like he had when they first 'met' he wore his white v-neck shirt and navy blue semi-tight pants.

On the other hand, Eric was having quite the moment of his own. Her slender figure was one in a million, the kind women could be driven to kill for. She filled every inch of the elegant baby pink gown. Her soft toned skin shown on her exposed shoulders. He had a first-hand account that she had no blemishes or scars on her skin. The only things intruding now were the slight bruises from whatever she had been through. Her hair continued to mesmerize him, doubled with her electrifying blue eyes.

She was beautiful to him when he had come upon her in a disheveled state, so now…she was way more beautiful than any word he could place.

"Y-you look…"

"Quite the vision, milady."

Grimsby moved from the prince's side and slightly bowed his head to her with a smile.

"Wonderful," Eric managed to slip in, finally over a moment of speechlessness.

She blushed a little to the comment, finally snapping from her moment of just staring at the boy.

"I'm glad you are awake. We've been quite worried about you," said Grimsby.

Eric soon realized all he kept doing was stuttering and staring at the girl while Grimsby stole the show.

"Here," he put his hand on her back and started to lead her to her seat.

His touch gave her chills and doubled her blush. How on earth she ended up in Eric's palace, she had no idea. She could barely remember anything from last night. She had to admit her luck was starting to turn around.

"Carlotta tells me you can't talk," he said, a little deflated, once they were all seated.

She looked at him and gave a slow nod.

"Were you always like that?"

She shook her head quickly, and her face flashed with a little anger, he noticed. Eric was about to ask her what happened but realized it required more than a nod and so he had to restrain. He couldn't put why, but he felt compelled to know everything about this girl.

Dinner was served and Eric soon found that the girl was more than appalled when she found out what her meal was. Through various trials of asking what was wrong, then mentally hitting himself only to slip up and ask something else similar, he escorted her to the kitchen.

"You can choose something else…pick whatever you like."

Her eyes went wide in what looked like curiosity as she slowly walked into the kitchen. She could feel her heart beating fast as she took in the foreign surroundings and objects. On the counter were many things she did not know. She happened upon a large bowl filled with lettuce. She had no clue what it was, but it wasn't the lobster and fish at the table and it somewhat resembled seaweed. She turned back to him with a smile while holding the bowl.

"Ah," he laughed. "You're a vegetarian then?"

She blinked at him with no clue what the statement meant but nodded regardless. She was already well into making this night completely awkward. The way they looked at her when she combed her hair with the fork was enough so she figured she should just play along now.

"I'll have Louis make you a salad right away."

He ushered her back to her seat after meeting with the chef that sort of scared Ariel. He was a bigger man and spoke in a language that sounded like English to her but at the same time it sounded just so…**odd**.

The Carlotta was quick to deliver her the new dinner. She mixed it around a bit with her fork to see there was a small amount of white stuff on it. Raising a bit of it up to her mouth she took a bite and chewed slowly. Her eyes lit up and she smiled.

Not knowing that she had never tried salad before, Grim and Eric mistook her happiness for her smiling that it was a good salad like she had never had before.

"I'm glad you like it," Eric wiped his mouth with his napkin.

She turned and gave him a quick nod. Carlotta came and removed the dishes once everyone was done eating. Turning back to his new guest he found her playing with the sleeves of her dress. The way she was rubbing the fabric back and forth with knit brows made it seem to him like she had never seen anything like it.

_'Probably not used to such expensive attire,' he thought._

"Eric?"

He turned to his advisor.

"Perhaps our young guest might enjoy seeing some sights of the kingdom? Like a tour?"

The young prince actually thought the idea sounded great. Maybe he could learn more about the girl too.

"Would you like to join me on a tour of my kingdom tomorrow?" he turned to her.

The quick and radiant smile she flashed him made his heart skip a beat and his face feel hot suddenly.

"Then you'll need your sleep," Carlotta interrupted with a hand on Ariel's shoulder.

She felt deflated to be leaving Eric but was quite pleased to have learned she was staying in his palace. And her heart was on cloud nine knowing that tomorrow she would be joining him to tour more of the human world. And not just any part of it, but his kingdom.

She was rushed through a bath and changed into a soft pink nightgown before being returned to her bed for the night. She explored her room to no end, her hands possibly touching ever inch of her new surroundings. She learned how to open the large windows that led to her balcony and stood at the railing looking out at her old home. She thought of her father and sisters. Wondering what they were doing now that she had been gone for over a day. She also worried for Sebastian and Flounder's safety since their separation.

Eric was settling in for the night as well. Rubbing a towel through his previously bathed hair he couldn't get the girl's smile out of his mind. But tied to it, he couldn't stop seeing the face of the woman who saved him. Getting in to bed he was restless in musing over the fact that the two faces seemed like one.

**Hoped you liked it! God Bless!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Short but I really needed to just get SOMETHING out there and put this back into play and in the right direction.**

The train driving her happiness derailed.

She tossed, she turned, and she broke out in a cold sweat. Ariel was thrown to the world of her nightmares. She was reliving her first encounter with humans, back on the pirate ship. They had her pinned once more as they danced and sang songs in favor of her despair.

"Let's take a look!"

Her eyes were clenched tight, daring not look at the owner of the horrid voice as she "felt" her last shred of clothes being pried off. She was bare before them.

She instinctively brought her arms up to cover her shaking frame. By chance, her eyes finally opened and she gasped. If she had a voice she would have screamed. It was Eric that stood over her, laughing, as her face grew more and more terrified. She mouthed his name in shock. How could he do this to her! He was so sweet. Had she been wrong? She should have listened to her father.

He grabbed her by her arms and threw her against the side of the ship, gaining approving shouts and laughs from the crowd. She brought her arms up and begged him to stop, silent sobs shaking her frame. He stormed over to her and lifted her up abruptly. She was thrown overboard, catching one last glance of his wicked face before she hit the water below.

Shooting up in bed, she opened her mouth to scream. She shot her eyes all around the room trying to come to terms where she was. She was still shaking as the tears streamed down her face. She fell back to her pillow and covered her face with her hands as she shook her head over and over.

Sure, it was just a nightmare, but now the damage was done. She slowly started to place Eric and the pirates in the same light. She was overtaken with questions.

He seemed nice enough, but what if he was just like those pirates? Her father and her disagreed on a lot of things, especially their views on the world above. But he was her father. He loved her and wanted to keep her safe.

She couldn't forget the fact that humans killed her mother. And they were also pirates…men. Was Eric just acting? Waiting for her to be vulnerable and trusting only to become just like them in the end?

He was going to take her on a tour of his kingdom tomorrow. Before her insecurities arose, tomorrow couldn't come sooner. Now she debated whether she even wanted it to come at all.

Should she run? Where could she go? If she didn't get Eric to fall in love with her, she belonged to Ursula! She wrapped heavy arms around herself and fell to the side of the bed. Over and over she tried to convince herself it was just a dream.

She would go back to bed and wake up tomorrow and forget all about this. She tried to assure that she still shaken about the ordeal, it was supposed to happen. Being afraid and scared was normal.

She would tell herself the same things all night but it didn't matter. The damage was done.

**I hope to get back into a flow with this story. Writers block is still present. I want to make it interestingly different than other stories I've written or ideas I've seen. Please bear with me. It was nice to finally get a post up, honestly.**

**11/12/11 12:21 a.m.**


	6. Important Notice

Hey everyone. This letter is about two months too late. It's literally been eating away at me, the thought of this story sitting dormant on the site with all of you waiting patiently for any update of any kind. I have to emphasize that I will finish this…**some day.** And the reason for this letter is that I have lost site of when that day is.

I love when I get asked to write a story for someone. That's a priceless honor. But sometimes it comes at not so great times. Right now I have possibly my best fanfiction I have ever wrote going on (Sanctuary) and it's taking up a lot of my time. But that story is second in line behind the novel I desperately want done and published by the end of the year. **BUT**, even that story is second in line to my life.

My life right now is that of a senior in college enjoying (enduring) her last semester before hitting the real world. I won't bore you too much with details, but I have applications to send out, and a portfolio to make to sell myself to the business world. As of right now I am mostly considering joining the Air Force right out of graduation, so you can only imagine how much planning I have to do right now. Though I will say I am excited to do boot camp (and I know that's strange enough).

To the point. I think about this story everyday, how I have people waiting with no signs of life in sight, and that's finally bugged me enough. The only thing I can give you is assurance that I will finish this someday. I do know that none of your lives depend on this story, and that's all the peace I have with writing this to you. I will come back when I come back, and not a day later. To those who have given me patience thus far, you are awesome people. Genuine patience is not something you can come by often enough.

I'll see you when I see you.

xSummersx


	7. Chapter 6

**Some ideas have come my way. Make sure to thank D-Queen for also helping fuel the fire. But I must say, please don't expect fast updates. So thankful to just get this one out finally! Hope you enjoy **

Carlotta had been worried for Ariel all morning. While she had dressed her, she was trembling and even the slightly movements Carlotta made around her caused her to jump in fear. It was hard to not be able to ask what the problem was, and even harder to endure watching her suffer without knowing how to help.

She tied a robin blue bow in the back of her flaming hair to complete her outfit for the day. It was a simple day dress, allowing her to move about more freely than the dinner gown, as she assumed it best for the day ahead touring the kingdom. It was baby blue to match the bow on the skirt with a black fabric covering the torso area with white sleeves. It gave the housemaid another reason to gawk at the young girl's impeccable beauty.

"What would you like for breakfast, Dear?" she touched the young girl's shoulder.

She flinched sharply at the contact, and Carlotta withdrew her hand as if she had touched fire. Ariel looked at her apologetically when she caught her somewhat hurt expression. She didn't want to cause any discomfort or trouble for this kind woman, but her body was betraying her and she couldn't stop any of these feelings.

"Oh Honey," Carlotta sat beside her on the bed. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Ariel was immediately struck with fond memories of her mother when she was in need of comfort. Atheena had to take care of all seven of her and her sisters, and yet always made time to personally love each of them. And when Ariel was having a bad time, Atheena would drop everything she was doing and stay with her until she felt better, or at least be there to listen to her problems. It caused some tears to form at her eyes before she looked down and brushed them away the best she could. Carlotta reached to pull the shaky girl into a small hug but Ariel actually beat her to it. She brought the maid flush against her so fast it took her breath away. After taking a moment to register what happened, she brought up a hand and patted her back with care.

"You must have been through so much," came her soft words. "Don't be afraid of any of us here, Dear. We are all worried about you and want to help you."

She was speaking straight to Ariel's heart at that moment. But it was going to take more than a few sweet words for Ariel to be able to lose the growing fear she was gaining for humans. More specifically, human men. It was with caution that Carlotta finally pulled back and wiped the tears at the young girls eyes.

"Nothing like a tour to brighten your day," she said happily. "Today may be just the thing you need."

It was with reluctance she brought her down to the dinner table. The entire time she could feel Ariel shaking more at leaving the safety of the room. She was also resisting the walk a few times, but Carlotta continued to assure her this was for the best.

When she was seated, she gave an inner whimper seeing Carlotta starting to leave her. She instinctively reached out and grabbed the woman's apron. Looking back at her with wide eyes, she saw the fear spread on Ariel's face and knew she couldn't deny her any longer.

"Would you like me to stay with you?" she asked gently.

Ariel nodded her head vehemently. She gave a sigh, agreeing to keep her company. She called for another maid to bring the breakfast. The doors on the far side where she just entered opened once again to reveal the prince and Grimsby. Her heart was reacting a complete 360 from when she saw him yesterday. It was beating fast, and this time in fear and anxiety. Visions of her nightmare flashed before her. How he had beaten her, laughed at her, and tossed her overboard to die. She arbitrarily shot her hand to Carlotta's arm.

The continued to be at a complete lost at the changes in the young woman. Yesterday she could have swore she observed the seedlings of love in her eyes for the prince from afar. She never took her eyes off him, and how she had blushed occasionally when his eyes met hers or when he asked her something. Now it seemed his very presence shot terror into her small frame.

"Good morning," Eric smiled at her when he sat down.

Her upbringing wouldn't let her be rude. Her father took it upon himself to raise seven young princesses, and with that came the endless lessons on refinement and nobility. Manners were in there somewhere. She did the best she could to give him a smile and nod, but her body once again betrayed her. Carlotta felt her trembles increase at the prince's proximity.

"Excited for the tour today?" Eric asked after their food was brought out.

Her skin prickled at his voice in her ears, the hairs on her neck stood up, and sweat started to collect in her brows. She gave another shaky nod and quickly went back to eating the food before her. She wanted nothing more than to bolt out of the room and back to her safe haven.

This time, the prince noticed her disposition. Then he happened to catch Carlotta's hand rubbing soothingly up and down the young girl's arm.

"Is something wrong?"

It was actually Grimsby who asked the question.

"Just a little under the weather," Carlotta lied for Ariel's sake.

"Don't force yourself for my sake," Eric then laughed and stood up. "Let me take you back to your room. Please feel free to r—"

The moment he extended his hand to the princess, she jerked backwards, nearly falling out of her chair if not for Carlotta's quick maneuvering.

"My word!" Grim stood up in surprise.

Eric straightened up in equal shock of the reaction.

"Just tired, just tired," she assured them and straightened Ariel out. "I'll take care of her, Your Highness," she bowed. "Please continue your breakfast."

The motherly maid quickly ushered the red-head out of the room.

"She really has been through a lot, Eric," Grim finally sat back down. "Lord only knows what. Rest will do her good."

While Carlotta may have convinced Grim, Eric was far from it. It wasn't a pale complexion she was sporting. He saw it, just briefly, but there was no doubt that was absolute terror in her shocking blue eyes. None of that was there yesterday. The girl had shown such excitement and anticipation for everything around her, even the smallest and most trivial things like a chair or fork. And at the same time, it was strange for him to feel such a necessity to help the stranger out. His heart felt heavy seeing her distress.

Not everyone shared the worry. Deep in her lair the sea witch stifled a cackle. The magic had taken a while, but was now kicking in to high gear.

"How terrible this all is!" she held her face in exasperation. "Ariel my dear what is wrong?"

Dropping the act she leaned against the wall in contentment. It was far from her to give the girl such an opportunity without a catch. While she had given her such a long period of time, the trade-off wasn't as generous. With Ariel's voice, there was another obstacle.

A seed of destruction.

Ariel was a lot stronger than most girls her age. Her resolve and determination set her apart from the crowd. Surely Ursula was making a mistake in letting her go up there. Most would put their money on Ariel. But not when the sea witch cast a spell that fed off the fear in her heart.

**Hate that freakin' witch…**

**Monday August 20****th**** 12:28a.m.**


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